Tech Your Mom Out [What The Tech?!]

Most, if not all of our parents are what we might consider “technologically challenged.” Instead of holding it against them, think about how you’re going to feel in 30 years when cars are flying themselves and a breakfast resembling a bullion cube is handed to us by your apron-wearing robot maid and then take the time to reach out to your mom this Mother’s Day.

Let’s begin to bridge the gap with a few nifty gadget gift ideas. Present them sensitively enough and you might even see some progress. So without further ado, here’s a list of cool shit you can get your mom to amaze her and make her life a little easier while getting her toes wet in some new fangled technology.

Roku Streaming Video Player -$49-$99

It was a huge success last Black Friday when you got your parents to finally invest in their first flat screen, and they only did it because their old TV went out the week before and the quote for repairs came in higher than the $295 46″ Vizio steal at Target.

While you were waiting outside for the doors to open at 4am, you skillfully planned your presentation to them, tried to anticipate any oppositional quips they might have as you read over the installation manual PDF on your smart phone so that you’d be able to sneak into their house while they were at church two days later and have that thing fully installed by the time they came rolling in from brunch.

Needless to say, it was a huge effort. Now that they’re just settling down into (and- gasp! maybe beginning to enjoy) their new television, you once again fear that they will be falling behind without a source of streaming video in their lives. Can you IMAGINE ever trying to explain to them why they need a Smart TV? That’s where Roku comes in.

This bad boy can be installed in less than 3 minutes, and assuming your parents aren’t on dial up, it will allow them to access all kinds of streaming video services from Netflix to Hulu and Amazon yadayadayada. I’ve seen (13 minutes of) HOUSE OF CARDS. Trust me. Your parents want to be watching it.

 

Brookstone Iceless Wine Chiller- $74.99

Here’s one way to blow your mom’s mind. This thing has an LED display which allows you to indicate one of forty different types of wine. It then programs itself to either chill or warm the bottle based on the optimal serving temperature. Tell me that’s not rad.

If you really want to look like a smarty pants, you can tell them that it uses the Peltier (careful here- say it with me- PELL-TEE-AYYY) effect. This little sucker is considered a phenomenon which was discovered about 200 years ago. Basically what happens is you take two different types of conductors and shoot some electricity through there. By messing around with the direction of the flow of electricity, when you overlap the two conductors you can make them either absorb (seriously) or release heat. Crazy right? This thing just sucks the heat right out of itself therein cooling the air around the bottle of wine.

Nothin’ like making your momma proud of your knowledge of thermoelectric energy!

 

Travel Luggage Scale- $39.99

Maybe this one just reminds me of my mom shrieking from across the house on nights before a morning flight,  “SHELLY! GET THE SCALE!”. So I’d come running across the house with the scale knowing she was about to make me stand  on it, weigh myself, grab her luggage, weigh myself again and then subtract to find out how heavy her luggage is to ensure she wouldn’t run into any overweight bag fees at the airport the next morning. By the time I was 22 I could tell a 47lb piece of luggage from a 52lb piece in my sleep.

So this gift is really for YOU, or me… or maybe your mom. Either way it’s really cool.

The assumption here is made that your mom is able to actually lift her luggage- as the method of weighing involves hooking the thing to the top and lifting. So that’s definitely something to consider here. But if your mom is an avid traveller this is one of those “I’m looking out for you, mom”, gifts for sure.

 

Personal Fitness Tracker $49.99-$249.99

Depending on your mom’s fitness and interest level, there are fitness trackers out there that are sure to meet any of her needs. These things tell you how well you slept, help you wake up more ‘healthily’ (whatever that means), track your activity and calorie expenditure, motivate you to move and do more, and reward you for doing so. They come in many shapes, sizes and wearing options and all communicate their data in a different format (Bluetooth to your smart phone, LCD display, USB connectivity to your PC… etcetcetc).

In one simple Googling, you are sure to come across many compare/contrast articles and charts which will help you find the one that is best for your momma. I think there’s also bonus points involved here for the customization to meet her needs and goals factor. You can give the “I picked this one for you because…” speech. Instant brownie points. Plus, what’s better than motivating your mom to move around a bit and maintain her health? There is NOTHING like the gift of health and don’t let anyone tell you different. I mean it. Don’t.

Stay on the edge though and do your Googling. You don’t want to be the sucker who bought her the FitBit Ultra last week when the FitBit Flex was just released this week. And rumor has it that Nike is reworking a new patent for a FuelBand 2 as well. So in case you were wondering why this article was released so late in the week when Mother’s Day is literally this Sunday. THAT’S why and you’re welcome.

 

And if you don’t like any of my suggestions and want to go your own way, Stevie Nicks, then just please be sure to watch this: